LOGINMaria Like every night when he took me, there was a frenzy in his movements, and I surrendered to his superior strength and expertise. To my credit, I did put up a fight and fought him for a time, raking my nails down his muscled back, but that only seemed to arouse him further.His mouth on my nape, he grunted, amusement lining his voice, as he rammed into my wet womb,“Ah…so my little slave can be a hell cat, huh?”My wrists were bound in a silken scarf above my head, and I squirmed as he played with my cl*t.Donatello brought me to the heights, holding back till I begged for mercy, and I cried out in pleasure as he thrust into me forcefully.I was dimly aware of him coming after I had orgasmed more times than I could count, his hot seed spurting into me.Belatedly, I remembered that I had not renewed my prescriptions for the Pill.He rolled off me after unfastening my hands, and we lay in silence, panting, our bodies damp. There was no affectionate moment after that, and I found m
MariaDonatello stared at me, his face hard, blank. But I could sense his disbelief.The furniture had finally begun to talk back, I thought nastily.My heart was pounding, but I refused to let him see it. I had spent too many months learning how to hide fear behind stillness. Tonight I was too tired to roll over and be his f*ck toy.I thought of Belinda Barnes, her hands all over Donatello and sat up straighter. His deep baritone echoed in my head; just a while earlier, Donatello had dismissed me as being a burden, just a debt.It stung. So I raised my head, jutted my chin out, and glared back at him.I knew that he had never seen this side of me. I always played the Submissive, Obedient wife.But tonight, I was too weary. Or angry. Maybe both.No husband, I thought firmly, I have some self-respect left.I did not realise that the sheet had tightened around my chest, framing my full breasts.“You don't get to walk in here whenever you please,” I whispered, warming up to my new avatar
Donatello walked to the bar. He was not a man who drank much, for he knew how drink could make a man weak. But now, he felt the need for a couple of stiff drinks.The image of Maria lying on the bed, her drab dress outlining her soft curves, was something he could not unsee.And then her lovely oval face: the way a blank expression had come over her features, like a shutter, as she stared at the lipstick on the side table, and the hurt beneath it lingered. Maria’s face, the hurt that was quickly hidden.He clenched his fists, and the tumbler crashed down on the counter.Belinda Barnes was no longer welcome to sleep in the guest room. She had been overstepping boundaries, but he was equally to blame, Donatello thought, in a rare moment of insight, and the thought soured his mood.The Don quaffed down the drink, and his man refilled his tumbler silently. He might not love his wife, but he would not make the mistake his father had. He didn't want his sons to grow up judging him.Belinda
DonatelloIn that unguarded moment, he felt a frisson of guilt that caught him off guard.He knew she was thinking of Belinda, who had come to him and complained, “Donatello, I have been wearing the same gowns over and over again.”Belinda had been at his side at every function for the last three years, ever since Matteo was born. As her Boss, he had obliged her, asking her to get a new gown. It had made perfect sense to him.Now a faint stirring of guilt arose, but he rebuked himself.After all, he had not gone out and bought clothes for his assistant himself; he had given her his card and asked her to get one when she smiled and pouted prettily. He argued with himself; he was not unfaithful. Now, frowning, he thought of how Belinda let her hand linger on his longer than needed…What no one knew was that he hadn't felt the need for another woman in his arms since he had wed Maria. The only woman he wanted to f*ck was his wife, bizarre as it might sound, he thought grimly. But now he
against his chest. Now Maria held him close, as though protecting him from his own father.Donatello studied her profile against the window: the delicate nose, rounded cheeks, slender neck. She was beautiful.The realisation unsettled him. Noticing his wife felt like a betrayal of Sophia.He swore under his breath.Maria’s eyes were closed, but her damp lashes betrayed her. Loose strands of dark hair softened the severe bun Carmen insisted she wear. Her full lips trembled faintly as she stroked Roman’s back, soothing the baby.For one disconcerting moment, Donatello felt a pang of tenderness.He crushed it.Maria was the wife his father had imposed upon him, a girl he had never intended to marry. If not for her father’s death—He turned towards the window.Sophia Bellini. The woman who should have been his wife.Her family had once held considerable influence in Chicago’s Mafia circles. She had been his childhood sweetheart, the dazzling beauty he had sworn to marry. Her laughter turn
MariaAt sixteen, I had become engaged to Donatello Rossi, the son of the man my father had died saving. The Rossi family controlled Chicago, and no one dared challenge their decisions—not even when the bride was a minor.My father, Lorenzo Orsini, had been Vittorio Rossi’s Capo and closest friend. He died during a surprise attack by a rival Mafia family, shielding the old Don when survival seemed impossible.Overnight, my mother and I were left alone.At my father’s funeral, Vittorio held my mother’s hand, his deep-set eyes red-rimmed.“Don't worry, Lucia. We will look after you. Maria will become my son Donatello’s bride.”A promise made in grief became a marriage arranged in duty.At our engagement ceremony, I gazed at Donatello with undisguised wonder. Twelve years older than me, he was already a formidable man, his handsome face dark and unreadable.He barely looked at me as he slipped the ring onto my finger.Later, when we stepped outside, he finally addressed me.“Remember, gi







